Gone

Chapter 1: Leaving

Hermione stretched, wincing with pain. Her muscles were sore and the cuts she had received last night tore open again. She gasped and leant over to grab some bandages from the cabinet in her bedside table. Pulling her wand from her bun, she waved it and muttered "Wrap." She knew there were other spells for healing but they were too dangerous to perform on oneself and could cause more harm than good. Anyway, Dumbledore would see that they were healed and the torture would just get worse. She was permitted to wear bandages, otherwise, she might bleed through her shirt. 

Dumbledore wanted the Wizarding World for himself. He was very good at playing the long game, refusing the post of Minister of Magic in favour of Headmaster, this gave him access to young, impressionable minds that were easily manipulated. He had harnessed Harry's mind with lies and careful plans. All of the Order of the Phoneix had been hoodwinked and convinced into following his way of working. If they refused, he disposed of them, one way or another. Lily and James Potter, for example, he had killed by using the imperious curse on Tom Riddle. Sirius Black had tried to rebel, so Dumbledore had him framed for murder. The single oversight this psychotic murderer had made, Tom Riddle. 

After the murder of the Potter's, Riddle disappeared, however, he had been gaining friends over the years. His will was strong and although his arm was doing it, he saw it as if from a strangers point of view. He had managed to find people like him, people who had been made to do terrible things by the Headmaster, or who had been tortured and abused. They wanted revenge as much as he did. By treating them like family or as an equal, Tom Riddle had gained friends who trusted him and liked him. When he had murdered the Potters and turned on Harry, he broke the curse and saved the baby, disappearing into thin air. 

Riddle had been finding more friends, and more people who he could help and over 16 years he had risen with an angry army supporting him. In Hermione's fourth year, he had come back out into the open and tried to help Harry. However, Peter Pettigrew threw the Portkey at him and he was transported back into the centre of the maze. Dumbledore had been waiting for him, and upon his appearance, killed Cedric Diggory and planted false memories inside of Harry. 

Bang! The door sprung open. Ginny Weasley was at the door. "Hermione! Come on! Professor Dumbledore has requested to see you." Her heart sank. He had found out she had only been pretending to be unconscious. He had found out she knew. Ginny was standing by the door impatiently. "Mione! Come on!" She needed to escape. She sighed, "Petrificus Totalusus." Thump. Ginny keeled over her eyes wide. Hermione stole a quick look around the room, her trunk was lying under her bed and her robes were on her chest of drawers. She needed to pack quickly, there was a spell for that, right? Oh yes, "Pack." All her stuff flew into her trunk, the socks folded and her S.P.E.W badges returned themselves to the tin. It was time to leave. Taking one final look around her area, she walked through the door. 

Immediately, Lavendar Brown jumped on top of her, wand in hand. Her eyes showed no emotion and Hermione knew she was imperiused. Hermione flicked her wand, wincing as Lavendar was thrown into the wall. A stunning spell did come in handy sometimes. She knew that she couldn't go down the slide to the common room so decided the window was her best option. Hopefully, the levitation charm would work. She sent her trunk down first and climbed onto the windowsill, her back screaming. Eyes squeezed shut, she stepped out of the window. Slowly, she floated down. Daring to open her eyes, she saw the great old castle silhouetted against the sky. It was beautiful. She would miss it, but she had to value her life for once. Suddenly, she started falling, getting faster and faster, she had broken concentration, therefore breaking the charm! She tucked her body into a ball as the ground approached and rolled along the grass. She saw blood streaked across the ground and knew that her scars must have reopened. 

She half ran, half jogged to the boundary. She could apparate from there. Her legs were burning and she knew it was a bad idea but what choice did she have? It was either get away and risk splinching herself, or stay here and be murdered. CRACK! As she was sucked into the dark vortex of space and time, she had only one thought in her head, freedom

Hermione landed in the middle of a forest, the trees were dappled with rays of sunshine and underfoot was a bed of soft moss. She put her trunk down and re-bandaged her wounds, grimacing. She knew she needed to eat but a wave of tiredness so strong overcame her. She lay down on the grass and slept. 

It hadn't been more than 2 hours when she heard voices, lots of them, coming towards her. Grabbing her wand, she cast the shield charm around her, wary of them. Out of the clearing came 11 people, four a little older than she, the others around fourteen or fifteen, one of them looked around 11 years old though. They stopped, staring at her. "Who are you?" she asked. One of them, the one with the crazy hair, stepped forward, raising a club with nails sticking out. He tried to strike at her but bounced off the charm. The others started shouting, throwing many things at her, until one of the girls walked forward. She glared at the group and used her hands to return the objects to them. A small stream of blood trickled from her nose. Hermione raised an eyebrow, obviously, this girl was powerful, but the others all seemed muggle, apart from one of the younger boys. "I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" she inquired, her wand still held aloft. Sensing that the girl wanted her to take her shield down, she complied. Blood still leaked from her shirt. The girl whispered, "You can do it too?" Hermione was confused. "Do what?" she asked. "Move things without touching them." Hermione was right, this girl was magic. Wordlessly, Hermione levitated the club the boy was holding, summoning it to her hand. "Yes. Now, answer my question please, who are you." The girl replied, "Eleven, my name is Eleven Hopper."